Worker was alone in a pick up, driving to work at 8:00 a.m. There was a trace of snow in the rain. Worker attempted to negotiate a corner on the gravel road but the truck continued to travel straight and left the road, rolling over several times, stopping approximately 60m. down a steep embankment. The worker was wearing his seatbelt. The worker suffered shoulder injuries,cut to his head and bruised legs. He was able to use his radio to contact help.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Slow down.

Pay attention and drive to road conditions.

Continue to reinforce the use of seatbelts.

Annually review drivers abstracts.

Revise call-in procedure to be initiated when an employee leaves his marshalling point, rather than when they arrive at the job site. Had the employee not been able to use his radio there could have been a time lag between assistance being rendered.

4 employees were proceeding at the speed limit along the Stawamus FSR. The road was snow covered at the time of the incident with fresh snow falling. 2 employees were in a company vehicle while the other 2 workers were ahead in a private vehicle. There was radio contact between the trucks and a distance of ~200 meters separated the vehicles. The company vehicle was negotiating a steep section of the FSR when the truck began to slide backwards. The employee had no choice but to maneuver the truck into the ditch. At this point it was decided that chains should be applied to the tires to improve traction in the snowy conditions. The private vehicle returned to the scene and helped the other workers get the vehicle out of the ditch. Even after the chains were applied the company vehicle continued to slide on the road, and it was decided that the FSR was unfit for travel and access to the work area could not be attained safely.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Following this incident it was decided that it would be prudent to upgrade to new winter tires to increase the available traction of the truck. It was also decided that extra shovels and other winter safety equipment should be added to the existing inventories in the truck.

A winter driving Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was developed and distributed to employees to ensure that they were aware of how to negotiate winter driving conditions. It was also stressed to employees that they should check the road and weather conditions before heading out so they are aware of the conditions they might encounter throughout the work day. Lastly it was reiterated that if there was any concern about the safety of the road for travel the employee(s) should not feel obligated to negotiate the road.

Road crew was in an end haul situation, utilizing two rock trucks. One of the trucks was pulled off the road, waiting in a turnout for the other truck to pass. The driver of the parked truck was completing some of his paperwork and although had noticed the other truck further up the road was not watching as the distance between the two trucks closed. The loaded truck was full with end haul materials as well as a large stump, with one of the lateral roots of the stump sticking out of the rock truck box quite far. The driver was not aware of this protruding root. Upon passing the parked truck, the root struck the parked truck’s mirror, pushing it into the driver window and smashing it. The concussion from the impact broke the passenger window as well, as both windows had been rolled up. The driver of the parked truck was showered with broken glass resulting in numerous small cuts to both his face and left hand. The driver of the struck rock truck was cleaned up, crew held an on-site investigation.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Drivers to be aware of the characteristics of their loads,

Drivers to travel at safe speed as determined by road conditions, limitations of the trucks, driver’s experience, and load characteristics.

Drivers to keep volume level of music radios low so not to negatively impact driver’s ability to hear company communications.

The main boom on the self-loading logging truck failed as the driver, in the controller’s seat, was preparing to unload his trailer. The boom was near its maximum height and the center of gravity was over the controller’s position. The pin at the base of the boom sheared. The boom wavered out of control, then collapsed and began to fall toward the controller’s position. The controller saw what was happening and managed to move quickly out of the way (to the roof of the cab) to avoid injury.

Learnings and Suggestions:

The sheared pin was replaced, as well as other pins in the boom that showed any signs of wear. The pin assembly was reinforced by means of plates welded to either side of the assembly to retain the pin as well as retain the integrity of the structure should such a pin failure reoccur. This followed the procedure outlined by other BC operations who have had similar experiences. In addition, in future, once this reinforcement procedure has been completed, visual and magniflux examinations will be performed immediately and every six months thereafter on this and other critically located pins on this equipment.

Semi trailer loaded with rolls of bundling wire was turning off the hiway onto side road. The tie down on the 3rd row of bundle wire broke and allowed the rolls to move back and put excessive pressure on the other rows.

The securement on the back row broke and fell off the trailer. The road way had about a 5% grade, so the rolls, rolled down the hill. One came to rest under the rear of a flat bed truck. There was minimal damage to the flat bed truck.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Use securement devices that are adequate for the cargo being carried.

Make sure the trailer is designed for the type of cargo being carried.

Make sure you know what cargo you are loading and have the proper materials to transport safely.

On October 18, 2007 a non-injury accident occurred on one of BCTS’s cut blocks. A large green spruce tree, from a small WTP blew over and hit the engine compartment of an empty logging truck causing approximately $ 35,000 of damage. Prior to the event, the tree was assessed by the logger and was deemed to be a healthy green tree and not a safety hazard.

Learnings and Suggestions:

Whenever practical, in the planning phase, minimize susceptibility to windthrow or locate reserve timber at least one and one-half tree lengths away from travel corridors or work areas (landings). In situations where this is not possible, consider falling or stubbing windthrow susceptible trees that may impact a travel corridor or work area. Other considerations in interface areas may include deferment or alteration of operations during high wind events.

On January 18, 2007 an off highway load was delivering to the Polar mill. At 206 km he was cleared by an empty truck which had cleared on an outside corner of the road. As the loaded truck rounded the corner the tree length logs on the load swept and made contact with the empty truck. During the investigation 50% of the loads on this road were of the length that you would be at risk clearing at this location. There were no injuries and only minor damage to the empty log truck.

Learnings and Suggestions:

On hauls involving off highway loads, empty vehicles should not clear on outside corners.

At this particular junction there is a channel change and highway crossing less than ½ km before where the incident occurred. Empties should call empty to determine if there are loads close prior to crossing the highway.

On January 30, 2008 at approximately 7:00 AM a contract log hauler (Burke Purdon Enterprises Ltd.) was transporting a load of logs from DOC 097 (19.5 on the 300 Road) to Canfor’s PG Sawmill.

Approximately 10 KM after leaving the loader, the driver noticed six logs hanging outside the pup trailer bunks on the passenger side. The driver put an extra wrapper over the logs, placed flags on the outlying logs and proceeded to haul the load to PG Sawmill. The driver did not notify either of LTN’s on-site supervisors.

Upon arriving at the mill, the scaler notified the Log Yard Manager. The truck was parked immediately and Canfor notified LTN of the truck being parked.

LTN’s Operations Manager was contacted and traveled over to the mill to examine the load with Canfor’s woodlands safety officer. Upon inspection and review with the driver, it was determined that the load had shifted forward approximately 6 to 8 inches, from bottom to top.While examining the load, it was noted that the logs that fell out of the bank bunk had shifted forward, but that the front end of some of the logs were hanging over the front bunk by at least 18 to 20 inches. Bunk spread was 12.5 to 13 foot and the un-bunked logs appeared to be 16 and 20 foot long. Measurement of log length was not completed due to danger of logs falling. It appears that if these logs had been centered on the bunks they would have shifted, but may not have fallen out of the rear bunk.

There were no injuries and no damage from the incident.

The BPEL driver had been audited by LTN on January 29, 2008 and was found to be a competent worker and knowledgeable of the licensee and company rules and guidelines.Contributing factors include:

The shifting of the load due to a build up of snow and ice on the bunks, combined with cold conditions and snow covered logs;

Loading logs too close to the bunks when not forced to do so; and,

The lack of preparation / situational awareness following the logs coming out of the bunk.

Learnings and Suggestions:

The drivers are professional and should be aware of unfavorable conditions and react to these conditions accordingly. Remind log haul drivers that snow covered logs are prone to shifting when placed on snow and ice covered bunks. Drivers, when noting the snow and ice build up on the bunks, should use their axe or shovel to clear the snow and ice off the bunks. This will allow firm contact between the logs and the bunks and minimize the potential for log shifting.

Loader operators are to square the loads on the bunks and center the logs as best they can. If centered, the logs can shift forwards or backwards with minimized risk of falling out of the bunks.

Remind all workers (including logging crew, log truck drivers and other road users) that dangerous conditions can come to exist at any time of the work day. When coming across a previously identified hazard, the Worker should control the hazard or access to the hazard as best possible and contact their supervisor. Work should cease immediately. Work should not continue until the hazard is removed or controlled and the Supervisor has given the Worker notification that it is safe to continue work.